Image forming method and system using XHTML-print data

ABSTRACT

An image forming method using hypertext markup language (XHTML)-print data, including receiving registration information about an image forming apparatus from the image forming apparatus, generating XHTML-Print data from print data using the registration information of the information forming apparatus, transmitting the XHTML-Print data to the image forming apparatus, and printing the XHTML-Print data.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No.2005-29951, filed on Apr. 11, 2005, in the Korean Intellectual PropertyOffice, and the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2005-50139,filed on Jun. 11, 2005, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, thedisclosures of which are incorporated herein in their entirety byreference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present general inventive concept relates to image formation, andmore particularly, to an image forming method and system using XHTML(extensible hypertext markup language)-print data, in which a device,such as a wireless communication apparatus or an electronic apparatus,generates XHTML-Print data and transmits the XHTML-Print data to animage forming apparatus that forms an image using the XHTML-Print data,the XHTML-Print which is a next generation page description language(PDL) described in universal plug and play (UPnP), mobile and imageprinting consortium (MIPC), and digital living network alliance (DLNA).

2. Description of the Related Art

In a conventional image forming method, a computer converts print datainto a page description language (PDL) code using a printer driver andtransmits the converted print data to a printer, i.e., an image formingapparatus, which forms an image corresponding to the print data.

The printer receives the print data through an input/output interface,and the print data is converted into a printing job language (PJL)command through a PJL parser. A type of emulation to be performed isdetermined through the analyzed PJL command, the emulation is thenperformed, and the emulated print data is output by a printing engine.In existing output methods, when an electronic apparatus such as adigital television or a mobile device such as a personal digitalassistant (PDA) outputs the print data to the printer, the followingproblems occur.

First, printer drivers must be developed for various kinds of devices.That is, since existing devices use different operating systems withoutmuch regard for a printing function, there is a difficulty in using theprinting function.

Second, in any kind of mobile device, the printer driver must beincluded in an application program.

Third, existing electronic apparatuses or mobile devices have problemsin system resources and CPU power when accessing data over a network,executing an application, and driving the printer driver.

In another image forming method, the printer may directly receive theprint data from an external device and print the print data. That is,the printer requests a print data provider to provide the print data andreceives and prints the requested print data. However, this imageforming method is very complex and has longer processing time for theoutput, compared with the previous method.

XHTML-Print data refers to a next generation page description language(PDL) described in universal plug and play (UPnP), mobile and imageprinting consortium (MIPC), and digital living network alliance (DLNA).

Conventionally, an XHTML-Print data generator generates singleXHTML-Print data for a single representation form. However, since adisplay form of the XHTML-Print data has not been unified yet, adisplayed image of the XHTML-Print data varies depending on a type ofperipheral used to view the XHTML-Print data.

That is, for the XHTML-Print data generated in a specific XHTML-Printdata generator, a type of a tag used for supporting the XHTML-Print datavaries depending on type of image forming apparatus. Furthermore,although the same tag is used, the analysis thereof may vary.Accordingly, a user may not obtain a desired output. In an effort tosolve this problem, guidelines for the output form of the XHTML-Printdata have been published by various organizations, but have not been notyet been unified.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present general inventive concept provides an image forming methodand system using XHTML-Print data, in which a wireless communicationapparatus or an electronic apparatus generates the XHTML-Print data andan image forming apparatus forms an image using the XHTML-Print data.

The present general inventive concept also provides an image formingmethod and system using XHTML-Print data, which can generate variousrepresentation forms of the XHTML-Print data to output an image throughvarious image forming apparatuses that correspond to variousrepresentation forms.

Additional aspects of the present general inventive concept will be setforth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will beobvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of thegeneral inventive concept.

The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present general inventiveconcept may be achieved by providing an image forming method usingXHTML-Print data, the method including receiving registrationinformation about an image forming apparatus from the image formingapparatus, generating XHTML-Print data from print data using theregistration information of the image forming apparatus, transmittingthe XHTML-Print data to the image forming apparatus, and printing theXHTML-Print data.

The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present general inventiveconcept may also be achieved by providing a method of forming an image,the method comprising receiving a print command associated with printdata and a specific image forming apparatus selected from among aplurality of image forming apparatuses, determining an appropriate XHTMLrepresentation form for the specific image forming apparatus from amonga plurality of XHTML representation forms, and converting the print datato XHTML-Print data having the appropriate representation form, andtransmitting the XHTML-Print data to the specific image formingapparatus.

The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present general inventiveconcept may also be achieved by providing a wireless device usable in animage forming system, the device comprising an interface unit to receivea print command associated with print data and a specific image formingapparatus selected from among a plurality of image forming apparatuses,an XHTML-Print data generating unit to determine an appropriate XHTMLrepresentation form for the specific image forming apparatus from amonga plurality of XHTML representation forms and to convert the print datato XHTML-Print data having the appropriate representation form, and adata transmitting unit to transmit the XHTML-Print data to the specificimage forming apparatus.

The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present general inventiveconcept may also be achieved by providing a wireless device usable in animage forming system, the device comprising a capability manager toobtain registration information about a first image forming apparatusand a second image forming apparatus, a contents loader to receive afirst print data and a second print data stored at one or more locationsin a network, an XHTML generator to generate first XHTML-Print data fromthe first print data in a first predetermined representation formaccording to the registration information of the first image formingapparatus and to generate second XHTML-Print data from the second printdata in a second predetermined representation form according to theregistration information of the second image forming apparatus, and aninterface to provide the first and second XHTML-Print data to the firstand second image forming apparatuses, respectively.

The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present general inventiveconcept may also be achieved by providing an image forming system usingXHTML-Print data, the system including an image forming apparatusincluding a registration information transmitting unit which transmitsregistration information about the image forming apparatus and aprinting unit which prints XHTML-Print data, and a device incommunication with the image forming apparatus, the device including aregistration information collecting unit which collects the registrationinformation about the image forming apparatus, an XHTML-Print datagenerating unit which generates the XHTML-Print data from correspondingprint data using the registration information about the image formingapparatus, and a data transmitting unit which transmits the XHTML-Printdata to the image forming apparatus.

The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present general inventiveconcept may also be achieved by providing an image forming method usingXHTML-Print data in an image forming system including a device and aplurality of image forming apparatuses in communication with the device,the method including displaying on the device a list of the imageforming apparatuses corresponding to various representation forms of theXHTML-Print data as representation form selecting information,generating the XHTML-Print data of a specific representation formselected from the representation form selecting information, andtransmitting the generated XHTML-Print data to an image formingapparatus corresponding to the specific representation form and formingan image accordingly.

The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present general inventiveconcept may also be achieved by providing an image forming system usingXHTML-Print data, which includes a device and a plurality of imageforming apparatuses in communication with the device, the deviceincluding a user interface unit which displays a list of the imageforming apparatuses corresponding to various representation forms of theXHTML-Print data as representation form selecting information, anXHTML-Print data generating unit which generates the XHTML-Print data ofa specific representation form selected from the representation formselecting information, and a data transmitting unit which transmits thegenerated XHTML-Print data to an image forming apparatus correspondingto the specific representation form.

The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present general inventiveconcept may also be achieved by providing an image forming apparatusnetwork, comprising a plurality of image forming apparatuses eachassociated with registration information about the respective imageforming apparatuses, and at least one wireless device to receive a printcommand associated with a selected image forming apparatus, to obtainregistration information about the selected image forming apparatus, toconvert print data to a selected XHTML representation form determinedaccording to the registration information about the selected imageforming apparatus, and to transmit the converted print data in theselected XHTML representation form to the selected image formingapparatus for printing.

The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present general inventiveconcept may also be achieved by providing an image forming apparatusnetwork, comprising a plurality of image forming apparatuses eachassociated with a specific XHTML representation form, and at least onewireless device to receive a print command associated with a selectedimage forming apparatus, to convert print data to the specific XHTMLrepresentation form associated with the selected image formingapparatus, and to transmit the converted print data to the selectedimage forming apparatus.

The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present general inventiveconcept may also be achieved by providing an image forming apparatus,comprising a first unit to generate information on the image formingapparatus, a second unit to receive XHTML data corresponding to theinformation, and a third unit to form an image according to the XHTMLdata.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects of the present general inventive concept willbecome apparent and more readily appreciated from the followingdescription of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating an image forming method usingXHTML-Print data according to an embodiment of the present generalinventive concept;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation 10 of the image formingmethod of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation 12 of the image formingmethod of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4A illustrates an example of a process of generating theXHTML-Print data from print data included in a device and printing theXHTML-Print data according to an embodiment of the present generalinventive concept;

FIG. 4B illustrates another example of a process of generating theXHTML-Print data from print data included in a device and printing theXHTML-Print data according to another embodiment of the present generalinventive concept;

FIG. 5A illustrates an example of a process of generating theXHTML-Print data from print data provided by a print data provider andprinting the XHTML-Print data according to another embodiment of thepresent general inventive concept;

FIG. 5B illustrates another example of a process of generating theXHTML-Print data from print data provided by a print data provider andprinting the XHTML-Print data according to another embodiment of thepresent general inventive concept;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an image forming system usingXHTML-Print data according to an embodiment of the present generalinventive concept;

FIG. 7 is anther block diagram of the image forming system illustratedin FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an image forming method usingXHTML-Print data according to another embodiment of the present generalinventive concept;

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of representation form selectinginformation displayed on a device in the method of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of XHTML-Print data to print imagesillustrated in FIG. 9 in accordance with a specific representation form;

FIG. 11 illustrates an example of XHTML-Print data to print the imagesillustrated in FIG. 9 in accordance with another specific representationform; and

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating an image forming system usingXHTML-Print data according to another embodiment of the present generalinventive concept.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the presentgeneral inventive concept, examples of which are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the likeelements throughout. The embodiments are described below in order toexplain the present general inventive concept by referring to thefigures. Hereinafter, an image forming method using XHTML-Print dataaccording to an embodiment of the present invention will be described indetail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating an image forming method usingXHTML-Print data according to an embodiment of the present generalinventive concept. The below-described operations and processes of FIG.1 may be performed by a device such as a mobile phone, a personaldigital assistant (PDA), and an image forming apparatus. Extensiblehypertext markup language (XHTML) is made by formulating hypertextmarkup language (HTML) 4, which is an application of extensible markuplanguage (XML). The XHTML-Print data is designed to represent imageforming data which is provided from a mobile device to the image formingapparatus.

First, registration information about the image forming apparatus isreceived from the image forming apparatus (operation 10). Theregistration information about the image forming apparatus includesprint sheet size information, font information, monochrome/colorinformation, and blank set information.

The operation 10 is performed after a print request. That is, theregistration information about the image forming apparatus is receivedafter a user requests a print job.

Alternatively, the operation 10 may be performed before the print job isrequested. That is, the registration information about the image formingapparatus may be received when a power supply voltage is applied to thedevice, or when the device is initialized.

The registration information about the image forming apparatus isreceived from the image forming apparatus through a wire/wirelessnetwork. The device and the image forming apparatus are connected toeach other through the wire/wireless network such as the Internet, andthe registration information about the image forming apparatus isreceived from the image forming apparatus through the wire/wirelessnetwork.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating the operation 10 of FIG. 1.

First, the image forming apparatus is requested to provide theregistration information (operation 30). That is, the device requeststhe image forming apparatus to provide the registration information asinformation about the image forming apparatus.

After the operation 30, the registration information is received fromthe image forming apparatus (operation 32). Here, the registrationinformation is received from the image forming apparatus through thewire/wireless network such as the Internet.

After the operation 10, print data is received by the device from aprint data provider through the wire/wireless network (operation 12).

If the print data is previously included (i.e., stored) in the device,the operation 12 may be omitted and operation 14 is performed.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the operation 12 of FIG. 1.

A network address of the print data is received by the device from theuser (operation 50). The network address of the print data indicates astandardized logical address for representing various resources such asa file or a news group on the Internet, such as a uniform resourcelocator (URL).

After the operation 50, the print data provider is requested to providethe print data located at the network address by the device (operation52).

After the operation 52, the requested print data is received by thedevice from the print data provider (operation 54). The print data isreceived from the print data provider through the wire/wireless network.

The received print data includes at least one of hypertext markuplanguage (HTML) data, extensible hypertext markup language (XHTML) data,extensible markup language (XML) data, joint photographic experts group(JPEG) data, graphics interchange format (GIF) data, bit map (BMP) data,portable network graphics (PNG) data, binary data, and readable text.

The hypertext markup language (HTML) data, the extensible hypertextmarkup language (XHTML) data, and the extensible markup language (XML)data are data that corresponds to web content. Furthermore, the jointphotographic experts group (JPEG) data, the graphics interchange format(GIF) data, the bit map (BMP) data, and the portable network graphics(PNG) data are image data.

After the operation 12, it is determined whether the print data receivedby the device is the image data (the operation 14), such as the jointphotographic experts group (JPEG) data, the graphics interchange format(GIF) data, the bit map (BMP) data, and the portable network graphics(PNG) data.

If the print data is the image data, operation 18 is performed. Inoperation 16, the print data is image-processed. The print data which isalready image-processed need not be image-processed in the operation 16.

However, if the print data received by the device is not the image data,after the operation 14, the print data is image-processed (the operation16). The image processing of the print data is similar to the functionof a browser (for example, Internet Explorer or Netscape). That is, theimage processing of the print data indicates performing analysis,layout, and drawing processes of the print data that corresponds to theweb content, such as the hypertext markup language (HTML) data, theextensible hypertext markup language (XHTML) data, and the extensiblemarkup language (XML) data. Here, the image processing performs only theanalysis, layout, and drawing processes of the print data, but does notdisplay the result, while a general function of the browser typicallydisplays the contents.

After the operation 16, the XHTML-Print data is generated from the printdata received by the device using the registration information about theimage forming apparatus (operation 18).

The print data is converted into the XHTML-Print data using, forexample, the print sheet size information, the font information, themonochrome/color information, and the blank set information, which arethe registration information about the image forming apparatus.

After the operation 18, the generated XHTML-Print data is transmitted tothe image forming apparatus (operation 20).

Particularly, the generated XHTML-Print data is divided by a chunk unitand the divided XHTML-Print data is transmitted to the image formingapparatus in the operation 20. By dividing the XHTML-Print data by thechunk unit, the device can transmit the data to the image formingapparatus without using a process of exchanging a message for receivingthe data with the image forming apparatus. The chunk indicates bindingthe information in a unified representation.

After the operation 20, the XHTML-Print data transmitted to the imageforming apparatus is printed (operation 22). The XHTML-Print data issubjected to interpreting processes such as the analysis, layout, anddrawing processes by a method similar to the method of processing PDL,and the interpreted XHTML-Print data is printed.

FIG. 4A illustrates an example of a process of generating theXHTML-Print data from the print data included (i.e., stored) in thedevice and printing the XHTML-Print data. Particularly, FIG. 4Aillustrates a case in which the registration information about the imageforming apparatus is provided when the user requests the print job. Whenthe user requests the print job, the device requests the image formingapparatus to provide the corresponding registration information. Theimage forming apparatus provides the device with the requestedregistration information and the device receives the providedregistration information. Thereafter, the device generates theXHTML-Print data from the print data which is previously included (i.e.,previously stored), using the registration information about the imageforming apparatus. The generated XHTML-Print data is transmitted to theimage forming apparatus through the wire/wireless network. Then, theimage forming apparatus prints the XHTML-Print data.

FIG. 4B illustrates another example of a process of generating theXHTML-Print data from the print data included (i.e., stored) in thedevice and printing the XHTML-Print data. Particularly, FIG. 4Billustrates a case in which the process of image-processing the printdata is additionally included. When the user requests the print job, thedevice requests the image forming apparatus to provide the correspondingregistration information. The image forming apparatus provides thedevice with the requested registration information and the devicereceives the provided registration information. The device determineswhether the print data, which is previously included, is the image data.If the print data is not image data, the device performs the imageprocessing on the print data. Thereafter, the device generates theXHTML-Print data from the image-processed print data using theregistration information about the image forming apparatus. Thegenerated XHTML-Print data is transmitted to the image forming apparatusthrough the wire/wireless network. Then, the image forming apparatusprints the XHTML-Print data.

FIG. 5A illustrates an example of a process of generating theXHTML-Print data from the print data provided by the print data providerand printing the XHTML-Print data. Particularly, FIG. 5A illustrates acase in which the registration information about the image formingapparatus is provided when the user requests the print job. When theuser requests the print job, the device requests the image formingapparatus to provide the corresponding registration information. Theimage forming apparatus provides the device with the requestedregistration information, and the device receives the providedregistration information about the image forming apparatus. When theuser provides the network address of the print data, the device requeststhe print data provider to transmit the print data located at thenetwork address. The print data provider then transmits the requestedprint data to the device. The device generates the XHTML-Print data fromthe print data which is provided by the print data provider using theregistration information about the image forming apparatus. Thegenerated XHTML-Print data is transmitted to the image forming apparatusthrough the wire/wireless network. Then, the image forming apparatusprints the XHTML-Print data.

FIG. 5B illustrates another example of a process of generating theXHTML-Print data from the print data provided by the print data providerand printing the XHTML-Print data. Particularly, FIG. 5B illustrates acase in which the process of image-processing the print data isadditionally included. When the user requests the print job, the devicerequests the image forming apparatus to provide the correspondingregistration information. The image forming apparatus then provides thedevice with the requested registration information and the devicereceives the provided registration information. When the user providesthe network address of the print data, the device requests the printdata provider to transmit the print data located at the network address.The print data provider then transmits the requested print data to thedevice. The device determines whether the print data received from theprint data provider is the image data. If the print data is not imagedata, the device performs the image processing on the print data.Thereafter, the device generates the XHTML-Print data from the printdata which is provided by the print data provider using the registrationinformation about the image forming apparatus. The generated XHTML-Printdata is transmitted to the image forming apparatus through thewire/wireless network. Then, the image forming apparatus prints theXHTML-Print data.

The general inventive concept can also be embodied as computer readablecodes on a computer readable recording medium. The computer readablerecording medium is any data storage device that can store data whichcan be thereafter read by a computer system. Examples of the computerreadable recording medium include read-only memory (ROM), random-accessmemory (RAM), CD-ROMs, magnetic tapes, floppy disks, optical datastorage devices, and carrier waves (such as data transmission throughthe Internet). The computer readable recording medium can also bedistributed over network coupled computer systems so that the computerreadable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion. Also,functional programs, codes, and code segments for accomplishing thepresent general inventive concept can be easily construed by programmersskilled in the art to which the present general inventive conceptpertains.

Hereinafter, an image forming system using XHTML-Print data according toan embodiment of the present general inventive concept will be describedwith reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an image forming system usingXHTML-Print data according to an embodiment of the present generalinventive concept. The image forming system includes a device 100 and animage forming apparatus 200. Here, the device 100 may be a wirelesscommunication apparatus such as a mobile phone or a personal digitalassistant (PDA).

The device 100 includes a registration information collecting unit 110,a print data collecting unit 120, an image data determining unit 130, animage processing unit 140, an XHTML-Print data generating unit 150, anda data transmitting unit 160.

The registration information collecting unit 110 collects registrationinformation from the image forming apparatus 200 and outputs the resultto the XHTML-Print data generating unit 150. The registrationinformation collecting unit 110 may collect registration informationfrom a variety of image forming apparatuses.

The registration information collecting unit 110 collects theregistration information when a print job is requested. Alternatively,the registration information collecting unit 110 may collect theregistration information before the print job is requested, that is,when a power supply voltage is applied to the device, or when the deviceis initialized.

The registration information collecting unit 110 receives theregistration information from the image forming apparatus 200 through awire/wireless network.

The registration information collecting unit 110 collects at least oneof print sheet size information, font information, monochrome/colorinformation, and blank set information as the registration informationabout the image forming apparatus 200.

The registration information collecting unit 110 includes an informationrequesting unit 112 and an information receiving unit 114.

The information requesting unit 112 requests the image forming apparatus200 to provide the registration information, such as the print sheetsize information, the font information, the monochrome/colorinformation, and the blank set information.

The information receiving unit 114 receives and stores the registrationinformation received from the image forming apparatus 200 through thewire/wireless network. The registration information about the imageforming apparatus 200 is stored in the information receiving unit 114and is output to the XHTML-Print data generating unit 150. Theinformation receiving unit 114 may store registration information abouta plurality of image forming apparatuses.

The print data collecting unit 120 receives and stores the print dataprovided from a print data provider through the wire/wireless networkand outputs the stored print data to the image data determining unit130.

The print data collecting unit 120 receives from the print data providerat least one of hypertext markup language (HTML) data, extensiblehypertext markup language (XHTML) data, extensible markup language (XML)data, joint photographic experts group (JPEG) data, graphics interchangeformat (GIF) data, bit map (BMP) data, portable network graphics (PNG)data, binary data, and readable text as the print data.

The print data collecting unit 120 includes a network address receivingunit 122, a data requesting unit 124, and a data receiving unit 126.

The network address receiving unit 122 receives a network address of theprint data from a user and outputs the provided network address to thedata requesting unit 124.

The data requesting unit 124 requests the print data provider totransmit the print data located at the received network address.

The data receiving unit 126 receives the requested print data from theprint data provider and outputs the received print data to the imagedata determining unit 130.

The image data determining unit 130 determines whether the print datareceived from the print data provider is image data and outputs thedetermined result to the image processing unit 140 and the XHTML-Printdata generating unit 150.

For example, if the print data is data that corresponds to web content,such as the hypertext markup language (HTML) data, the extensiblehypertext markup language (XHTML) data, and the extensible markuplanguage (XML) data, the image data determining unit 120 outputs thedetermined result to the image processing unit 140.

However, if the print data is the image data, such as the jointphotographic experts group (JPEG) data, the graphics interchange format(GIF) data, the bit map (BMP) data, and the portable network graphics(PNG) data, the image data determining unit 130 outputs the determinedresult to the XHTML-Print data generating unit 150.

The image processing unit 140 performs the image processing on the printdata and outputs the image-processed print data to the XHTML-Print datagenerating unit 150. For example, the image processing unit 140 mayperform analysis, layout, and drawing processes on the print data thatcorresponds to the web content.

The XHTML-Print data generating unit 150 generates the XHTML-Print datafrom the print data using the registration information about the imageforming apparatus 200 and outputs the generated XHTML-Print data to thedata transmitting unit 160.

The XHTML-Print data generating unit 150 converts the print data intothe XHTML-Print data using, for example, the print sheet sizeinformation, the font information, the monochrome/color information, andthe blank set information, which may be included in the registrationinformation about the image forming apparatus 200.

The data transmitting unit 160 transmits the generated XHTML-Print datato the image forming apparatus 200.

The data transmitting unit 160 divides the generated XHTML-Print data bya chunk unit and transmits the divided XHTML-Print data to the imageforming apparatus 200. Since the data transmitting unit 160 divides theXHTML-Print data by the chunk unit, the device 100 can transmit the datato the image forming apparatus 200 without using a process of exchanginga message for receiving the data with the image forming apparatus 200.

The image forming apparatus 200 includes a registration informationtransmitting unit 210 and a printing unit 220.

The registration information transmitting unit 210 transmits theregistration information about the image forming apparatus 200 to thedevice 100. The registration information transmitting unit 210 transmitsthe registration information about the image forming apparatus 200, suchas the print sheet size information, the font information, themonochrome/color information, and the blank set information of the imageforming apparatus 200, to the registration information collecting unit110 of the device 100 through the wire/wireless network.

The printing unit 220 performs the analysis, layout, and drawingprocesses on the XHTML-Print data received from the device 100 throughthe wire/wireless network and prints the XHTML-Print data. The printingunit 220 may include a parsing unit (not shown) to analyze theXHTML-Print data, a layout unit (not shown) to layout the analyzedXHTML-Print data, and a drawing unit (not shown) to draw the layout ofthe XHTML-Print data.

The printing unit 220 prints the XHTML-Print data on a print sheet orrecording medium.

FIG. 7 is another block diagram of the image forming system using theXHTML-Print data of in FIG. 6. The device illustrated in FIG. 7 (whichcorresponds to the device 100 of FIG. 6) includes a capability manager,a contents loader, an image maker, an XHTML-Print generator, and aninterface. Here, the capability manager of FIG. 7 corresponds to theregistration information collecting unit 110 of FIG. 6, the contentsloader of FIG. 7 corresponds to the print data collecting unit 120 ofFIG. 6, the image maker of FIG. 7 corresponds to the image processingunit 140 of FIG. 6, and the XHTML-Print generator of FIG. 7 correspondsto the XHTML-Print data generating unit 150 of FIG. 6. The printer maycorrespond to the image forming apparatus 200 of FIG. 6, and thecontents provider may correspond to the print data provider notillustrated in FIG. 6.

Hereinafter, an image forming method using XHTML-Print data according toanother embodiment of the present general inventive concept will bedescribed in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an image forming method usingXHTML-Print data according to another embodiment of the present generalinventive concept.

In order to realize the image forming method using the XHTML-Print dataof FIG. 8, a device and an image forming apparatus are connected to eachother through a network. The below-described processes and operations ofthe method of FIG. 8 are performed by a device such as a mobile phone ora personal digital assistant (PDA), and an image forming apparatus.Extensible hypertext markup language (XHTML) is made by formulatinghypertext markup language (HTML) 4, which is an application ofextensible markup language (XML). The XHTML-Print data is designed torepresent image forming data which is provided from a mobile device toan image forming apparatus.

First, the device receives a list of a plurality of image formingapparatuses corresponding to representation form selecting information(operation 300). The representation form of the XHTML-Print data mayvary and may include, for example, a “p-tag” form and a “table” form.The image forming apparatuses analyze various representation forms ofthe XHTML-Print data using an analysis algorithm, and form an image. Theimage forming apparatuses may output different results depending on therepresentation form of the XHTML-Print data. That is, an image formingapparatus F₁ may output the “p-tag” form of the XHTML-Print data as agood quality output which is desired by a user, an image formingapparatus F₂ may output the “p-tag” form of the XHTML-Print data as aresult which is not desired by the user. This occurs, because each imageforming apparatus is configured to suitably process only a specificrepresentation form of the XHTML-Print data. Accordingly, in operation300, it is determined which of the image forming apparatuses forms agood quality image with respect to any representation form of theXHTML-Print data to register the list of image forming apparatuses tocorrespond to the representation form.

Information about the representation forms and the list of thecorresponding image forming apparatuses is referred to as“representation form selecting information.”

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of the representation form selectinginformation displayed on the device in the image forming method of FIG.8. As illustrated in FIG. 9, a first image forming apparatus isregistered as an image forming apparatus that corresponds to arepresentation form A, a second image forming apparatus is registered asan image forming apparatus that corresponds to a representation form B,and a third image forming apparatus is registered as an image formingapparatus corresponds to a representation form C. The first imageforming apparatus that corresponds to the representation form A can forma good quality image when receiving the representation form A of theXHTML-Print data, the second image forming apparatus that corresponds tothe representation form B can form a good quality image when receivingthe representation form B of the XHTML-Print data, and the third imageforming apparatus that corresponds to the representation form C can forma good quality image when receiving the representation form C of theXHTML-Print data.

After the operation 300, when the print job is requested, therepresentation form selecting information is displayed (operation 302).As illustrated in FIG. 9, the representation form selecting informationcan allow the representation form of the XHTML-Print data to be selecteddepending on the image forming apparatus by checking which of the imageforming apparatuses can form a good-quality image when receiving anyrepresentation form of the XHTML-Print data.

As illustrated in FIG. 9, the representation form selecting informationis displayed on the device. In addition, an image selected by the user(“image select”) and a list of image forming styles (“style select”) aredisplayed.

After the operation 302, the XHTML-Print data of a specificrepresentation form selected from the representation form selectinginformation is generated (operation 304). For example, if the output isdesired to be obtained using the second image forming apparatus in therepresentation form selecting information of FIG. 9, the XHTML-Printdata of the representation form B is generated such that the goodquality output is obtained from the second image forming apparatus. Whenthe user selects the representation form B from the representation formselecting information, the XHTML-Print data of the representation form Bselected by the user is generated. When the user selects therepresentation information A from the representation form selectinginformation, the XHTML-Print data of the selected representation form Ais generated. When the user selects the representation form C from therepresentation form selecting information, the XHTML-Print data of theselected representation form C is generated.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of the XHTML-Print data to generate theimages illustrated in FIG. 9 in accordance with a specificrepresentation form. FIG. 10 illustrates the “table” form of theXHTML-Print data for the image to be output.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example of the XHTML-Print data to generate theimages illustrated in FIG. 9 in accordance with another specificrepresentation form. FIG. 11 illustrates the “p-tag” form of theXHTML-Print data for the image to be output.

As illustrated in FIG. 9, the user selects the images to be output andthe image forming styles of the selected images. In addition, the userchecks the image forming apparatus for outputting the image through therepresentation form selecting information and selects the representationform that corresponds to the image forming apparatus. Thereafter, asillustrated in FIGS. 10 and 11, the XHTML-Print data that corresponds tothe representation form selected by the user is generated.

After the operation 304, the generated XHTML-Print data is transmittedto the image forming apparatus to form the image (operation 306). TheXHTML-Print data of the specific representation form selected by theuser is transmitted to the image forming apparatus, analyzed, and outputin accordance with the analyzed result. Particularly, since thegenerated XHTML-Print data is transmitted to the image forming apparatusthat corresponds to the specific representation form, the good qualityoutput can be obtained through the image forming apparatus thatcorresponds to the specific representation form.

For example, when the user selects the representation form B from therepresentation form selecting information, the XHTML-Print data of therepresentation form B selected by the user is generated and transmittedto the second image forming apparatus that corresponds to therepresentation form B. The second image forming apparatus thatcorresponds to the representation form B analyzes the receivedXHTML-Print data and forms the good quality image.

The general inventive concept can also be embodied as computer readablecodes on a computer readable recording medium. The computer readablerecording medium is any data storage device that can store data whichcan be thereafter read by a computer system. Examples of the computerreadable recording medium include read-only memory (ROM), random-accessmemory (RAM), CD-ROMs, magnetic tapes, floppy disks, optical datastorage devices, and carrier waves (such as data transmission throughthe Internet). The computer readable recording medium can also bedistributed over network coupled computer systems so that the computerreadable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion. Also,functional programs, codes, and code segments for accomplishing thepresent general inventive concept can be easily construed by programmersskilled in the art to which the present general inventive conceptpertains.

Hereinafter, an image forming system using XHTML-Print data according toanother embodiment of the present general inventive concept will bedescribed in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating an image forming system usingthe XHTML-Print data according to another embodiment of the presentgeneral inventive concept. The image forming system includes a device400 and an image forming apparatus 500 connected to the device 400through a network.

The device 400 includes a user interface unit 410, an XHTML-Print datagenerating unit 420, and a data transmitting unit 430.

The user interface unit 410 receives a list of a plurality of imageforming apparatuses that corresponds to representation form selectinginformation. The user interface unit 410 associates to the list of theimage forming apparatuses to corresponding representation forms.

As illustrated in FIG. 9, the user interface unit 410 includes therepresentation form selecting information including a first imageforming apparatus registered to correspond to a representation form A, asecond image forming apparatus registered to correspond to arepresentation form B, and a third image forming apparatus registered tocorrespond to a representation form C.

Referring to FIG. 12, when the device 400 requests a print job, the userinterface unit 410 displays the representation form selectinginformation. As illustrated in FIG. 9, the user interface unit 410displays the representation form selecting information such that a userchecks the image forming apparatus that corresponds to therepresentation form. An image selected by the user (“image select”) anda list of image forming styles (“style select”) may also be displayed.

The user interface unit 410 outputs information about the image selectedby the user, the selected image forming style, and the selectedrepresentation form to the XHTML-Print data generating unit 420.

The XHTML-Print data generating unit 420 generates the XHTML-Print dataof a specific representation form selected from the representation formselecting information and outputs the generated XHTML-Print data to thedata transmitting unit 430. When receiving the information about theselected image, the selected image forming style, and the selectedrepresentation form from the user interface unit 410, the XHTML-Printdata generating unit 420 generates the XHTML-Print data in accordancewith the selected image, the selected image forming style, and theselected representation form.

The XHTML-Print data generating unit 420 includes XHTML-Print datagenerating information which can generate various representation formsof the XHTML-Print data in order to generate the XHTML-Print data of therepresentation form selected by the user. For example, the XHTML-Printdata generating unit 120 includes various representation forms ofinformation such as a “p-tag” form and a “table” form.

The data transmitting unit 430 transmits the XHTML-Print data receivedfrom the XHTML-Print data generating unit 420 to the image formingapparatus 500. Particularly, the data transmitting unit 430 can transmitthe generated XHTML-Print data to the image forming apparatus thatcorresponds to a specific representation form (i.e., the selectedrepresentation form of the image forming apparatus 500).

The image forming apparatus 500 receives the generated XHTML-Print datafrom the data transmitting unit 430, analyzes the received XHTML-Printdata, and forms an image. Particularly, when the image forming apparatus500, which receives the XHTML-Print data, is the image forming apparatusthat corresponds to the specific representation form of the XHTML-Printdata, the image forming apparatus can form a good quality image.

As described above, according to various embodiments an image formingmethod and a system using XHTML-Print data can print the XHTML-Printdata, which is a next generation page description language (PDL)described in universal plug and play (UPnP), mobile and image printingconsortium (MIPC), and digital living network alliance (DLNA), usingexisting image forming apparatuses in an interpreting manner such asPCL.

That is, according to various embodiments of an image forming method anda system using XHTML-Print data of the present general inventiveconcept, since the XHTML-Print data is subjected to analysis, layout,and drawing processes and then printed in an image forming apparatus,print complexity is reduced and a processing time required to requestand respond to print data is shortened.

Moreover, according to various embodiments of an image forming methodand a system using XHTML-Print data of the present general inventiveconcept, the XHTML-Print data can be conveniently transmitted from amobile phone or a personal digital assistant (PDA) to an image formingapparatus.

In addition, according to various embodiments of an image forming methodand a system using XHTML-Print data of the present general inventiveconcept, an image forming apparatus can perform a printing function,although a mobile phone or a personal digital assistant (PDA) does notinclude a plurality of image forming drivers.

Furthermore, according to various embodiments of an image forming methodand a system using XHTML-Print data of the present general inventiveconcept, various representation forms of XHTML-Print data can begenerated.

In addition, according to various embodiments of an image forming methodand a system using XHTML-Print data of the present general inventiveconcept, a good quality output can be obtained through image formingapparatuses corresponding to various representation forms.

Although a few embodiments of the present general inventive concept havebeen shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in theart that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing fromthe principles and spirit of the general inventive concept, the scope ofwhich is defined in the appended claims and their equivalents.

1. An image forming method using extensible hypertext markup language(XHTML)-print data of a device connected to an image forming apparatus,the method comprising: receiving at the device registration informationabout the image forming apparatus from the image forming apparatus;generating at the device XHTML-Print data from print data using theregistration information of the image forming apparatus, the XHTML-Printdata being printable data in the image forming apparatus; transmittingthe XHTML-Print data from the device to the image forming apparatus; andprinting the XHTML-Print data with the image forming apparatus, whereinthe registration information comprises at least one of print sheet sizeinformation, font information, monochrome/color information, and blankset information, the device comprises any one of a mobile phone, apersonal digital assistant (PDA), and an electronic apparatus, theXHTML-Print data is generated by the device without an imaging formerdriver of the image forming apparatus, and the print data, to beconverted into the XHTML-Print data for printing, corresponds to webcontent including at least one of a hypertext markup language (HTML)data, and XHTML data, and an extensible markup language (XML).
 2. Theimage forming method of claim 1, wherein the receiving of theregistration information comprises: requesting the image formingapparatus to provide the registration information; and receiving theregistration information from the image forming apparatus.
 3. The imageforming method of claim 1, wherein the receiving of the registrationinformation comprises receiving the registration information before orafter a print request is received.
 4. The image forming method of claim1, wherein the receiving of the registration information comprisesreceiving the registration information from the image forming apparatusthrough a wire/wireless network.
 5. The image forming method of claim 1,wherein the print data comprises at least one of hypertext markuplanguage (HTML) data, extensible hypertext markup language (XHTML) data,extensible markup language (XML) data, joint photographic experts group(JPEG) data, graphics interchange format (GIF) data, bit map (BMP) data,portable network graphics (PNG) data, binary data, and readable text. 6.The image forming method of claim 1, wherein the transmitting of theXHTML-Print data comprises dividing the XHTML-Print data by a chunk unitand transmitting the divided XHTML-Print data to the image formingapparatus.
 7. The image forming method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving the print data through a wire/wireless network before theXHTML-Print data is generated.
 8. The image forming method of claim 7,wherein the receiving of the print data comprises: receiving a networkaddress of the print data; requesting transmission of the print datacorresponding to the network address from a provider; and receiving theprint data located at the network address from the provider.
 9. Theimage forming method of claim 7, wherein the receiving of the print datacomprises receiving at least one of hypertext markup language (HTML)data, extensible hypertext markup language (XHTML) data, extensiblemarkup language (XML) data, joint photographic experts group (JPEG)data, graphics interchange format (GIF) data, bit map (BMP) data,portable network graphics (PNG) data, binary data, and readable text asthe print data.
 10. The image forming method of claim 1, furthercomprising: performing an image processing operation on the print databefore the generating of the XHTML-Print data.
 11. The image formingmethod of claim 10, further comprising: determining whether the printdata is an image data, wherein, if the print data is not the image data,the image processing operation is performed on the print data, and ifthe print data is the image data, the XHTML-Print data is generated fromthe print data without the image processing operation.
 12. An imageforming system using XHTML-Print data, the system comprising: an imageforming apparatus including a registration information transmitting unitwhich transmits registration information about the image formingapparatus, and a printing unit which prints XHTML-Print data; and adevice in communication with the image forming apparatus, the deviceincluding a registration information collecting unit which collects theregistration information about the image forming apparatus, anXHTML-Print data generating unit which generates the XHTML-Print datafrom print data using the registration information about the imageforming apparatus, and a data transmitting unit which transmits theXHTML-Print data to the image forming apparatus, wherein theregistration information comprises at least one of print sheet sizeinformation, font information, monochrome/color information, and blankset information, the device comprises any one of a mobile phone, apersonal digital assistant (PDA), and an electronic apparatus, theXHTML-Print data is generated by the device without an imaging formerdriver of the image forming apparatus, and the print data, to beconverted into the XHTML-Print data for printing, corresponds to webcontent including at least one of a hypertext markup language (HTML)data, an XHTML data, and an extensible markup language (XML) data. 13.The image forming system of claim 12, wherein the registrationinformation collecting unit comprises: an information requesting unitwhich requests the image forming apparatus to provide the registrationinformation; and an information receiving unit which receives and storesthe registration information from the image forming apparatus.
 14. Theimage forming system of claim 12, wherein the registration informationcollecting unit collects the registration information before or after aprint request.
 15. The image forming system of claim 12, wherein theregistration information collecting unit receives the registrationinformation from the image forming apparatus through a wire/wirelessnetwork.
 16. The image forming system of claim 12, wherein the printdata comprises at least one of hypertext markup language (HTML) data,extensible hypertext markup language (XHTML) data, extensible markuplanguage (XML) data, joint photographic experts group (JPEG) data,graphics interchange format (GIF) data, bit map (BMP) data, portablenetwork graphics (PNG) data, binary data, and readable text.
 17. Theimage forming system of claim 12, wherein the data transmitting unitdivides the XHTML-Print data by a chunk unit and transmits the dividedXHTML-Print data to the image forming apparatus.
 18. The image formingsystem of claim 12, further comprising: a print data collecting unitwhich receives and stores the print data through a wire/wirelessnetwork.
 19. The image forming system of claim 18, wherein the printdata collecting unit comprises: a network address receiving unit whichreceives a network address of the print data; a data requesting unitwhich requests transmission of the print data that corresponds to thenetwork address from a provider; and a data receiving unit whichreceives the print data from the provider.
 20. The image forming systemof claim 18, wherein the print data comprises at least one of hypertextmarkup language (HTML) data, extensible hypertext markup language(XHTML) data, extensible markup language (XML) data, joint photographicexperts group (JPEG) data, graphics interchange format (GIF) data, bitmap (BMP) data, portable network graphics (PNG) data, binary data, andreadable text.
 21. The image forming system of claim 12, furthercomprising: an image processing unit which performs an image processingoperation on the print data.
 22. The image forming system of claim 21,further comprising: an image data determining unit which determineswhether the print data is an image data, wherein, if the print data isnot the image data, the print data is processed by the image processingunit, and if the print data is the image data, the print data is outputto the XHTML-Print data generating unit to be generated to theXHTML-Print data without being image-processed.
 23. An image formingsystem using XHTML-Print data, having a device and a plurality of imageforming apparatuses in communication with the device, the devicecomprising: a user interface unit which displays a list of the imageforming apparatuses corresponding to various representation forms of theXHTML-Print data as representation form selecting information; anXHTML-Print data generating unit which generates the XHTML-Print data ofa specific representation form selected from the representation formselecting information; and a data transmitting unit which transmits thegenerated XHTML-Print data to an image forming apparatus correspondingto the specific representation form such that the image formingapparatus forms an image of the XHTML-Print data, wherein the userinterface unit receives the list of image forming apparatusescorresponding to the representation form selecting information, thedevice comprises any one of a mobile phone, a personal digitalassistant, and mobile electronic device, the XHTML-Print data isgenerated by the device without an imaging forming driver of the imageforming apparatus, and the XHTML-Print data is generated from a printdata, to be converted into the XHTML-Print data for printing,corresponds to web content including at least one of a hypertext markuplanguage (HTML) data, and XHTML data, and an extensible markup language(XML) data by the mobile device.
 24. The image forming system of claim23, wherein the XHTML-Print data generating unit generates the variousrepresentation forms of the XHTML-Print data.
 25. A non-transitorycomputer-readable medium containing executable code to form an imageusing extensible hypertext markup language (XHTML)-print data, themedium comprising: executable code to receive at a device registrationinformation about an image forming apparatus from the image formingapparatus; executable code to generate at the device XHTML-Print datafrom print data using the registration information of the image formingapparatus, the XHTML-Print data being printable data in the imageforming apparatus; executable code to transmit the XHTML-Print data tothe image forming apparatus; and executable code to print theXHTML-Print data, wherein the registration information about the imageforming apparatus comprises at least one of print sheet sizeinformation, font information, monochrome/color information, and blankset information, the device comprises any one of a mobile phone, apersonal digital assistant (PDA), and an electronic apparatus, theXHTML-Print data is generated by the device without an imaging formingdriver of the image forming apparatus, and the print data, to beconverted into the XHTML-Print data for printing, corresponds to webcontent including at least one of a hypertext markup language (HTML)data, an XHTML data, and an extensible markup language (XML) data.